Mass Effect: Spec Ops
by VR Commando ATA
Summary: While the Shepard siblings lead the charge against the Reapers, hundreds of thousands of troops fight back against the Reapers as well. These are the stories of those soldiers, the operations of the normal ground troops, and the assaults by the Spec Ops Commandos.
1. Feet First Into Hell

**Me: Here's the first chapter of the Spec Ops missions.**

**Trin: Ops will be randomly created by both of us-…**

**Me: And I will accept a few Ops of your own ideas. To keep the review area clear of clutter, submit them in a PM or add an actual review to it, otherwise I'm ignoring it.**

**Jane: So, what's first?**

**Me: You won't be here, just so you know. Now on with the story!**

"Talking."

"_Thinking."_

"[Electronic communication.]"

{AI intercommunication}

**Feet First Into Hell**

[**Nova Galaxy, Draco 5 System (Reaper Presence: Minimal), Cerberus Facility:**]

"[All ODSTs prepare for deployment,]" someone shouted over the intercom. "[N7 Team Omega, you're going with them, gear up.]"

"Well, that was quick," Captain Wayne O'Brien said as he and his team loaded into their drop pods. "Remember people, our mission is to grab any and all Cerberus tech we find."

"[Understood Captain O'Brien,]" the N7 Commander said.

"Radio silence as much as possible when we get on the ground."

"[You got it Cap,]" Shocker said over the coms.

"PREPARE FOR DROP!" The Captain said as their pods launched.

Loco started laughing when the N7s started screaming. Wayne sighed while the others made fun of the N7s.

"There's a reason why we're called hell jumpers," Corporal Holland said.

Ten minutes later the pods landed. The ODSTs got out and waited as the N7s lost their lunch or just caught their breath. Loco began to laugh at that.

"What…the…hell…is…wrong…with…you…people?" One of the N7s asked the ODSTs.

"Let's just get moving." The Captain sighed as they walked towards the Cerberus Facility.

The group separated into two teams and moved towards the Facility. The Captain looked around for any possible traps on their path. Seeing none, he had everyone start moving faster. The ODSTs walked for a good 30 minutes before getting to the Facility. He had them stop and move towards a large side vent. They began setting up charges around the building to destroy it when they were done. After ten minutes, the charges were set and the Shock Troopers began removing the vent from the wall. They had gotten it off and were setting it down when someone spoke up from behind them.

"I assume you have a good reason for being here?" O

Brien turned around to see someone he thought was supposed to be dead. Miranda Lawson looked slightly pleased with herself as the multiple Cerberus troopers around them held their weapons up to their shoulders. O'Brien cursed as the ODSTs raised their own weapons.

"I'll let you live if you surrender," Lawson told them as a small shimmer appeared behind her.

O'Brien smiled beneath his polarized helmet as the shimmer moved towards the back of the Cerberus troops. Several of them suddenly dropped as O'Brien checked his ammo count.

"I have a better option, we kill your troops, then you, then take what we're here for, the blow this place to hell and back," O'Brien said as more Cerberus Troopers fell.

"You're outnumbered, you don't have a say in anything."

"You may want to do a recount," Paxton said as the cloaked soldier deactivated their active camo.

Another ODST formed, an ODST standard issue combat knife, or toothpick, in her hands. She twirled it once before walking up to the Cerberus Sentinel. Lawson's arm glowed a light purple with biotic energy. She was about to throw a warp when Holland stabbed his own knife into her shoulder. She screamed as the energy dissipated. Lawson turned to face Markus, his visor depolarized to show a smirking face. She raised an eyebrow before realizing why he was smiling. She spun back around for a knife to be shoved into her stomach. The female ODST smiled beneath her helmet, a sniper variant with the binocular piece lowered, as she twisted the knife.

"Die bitch, and stay dead this time." The Trooper told her as she twisted the knife again.

Lawson's white and black outfit began to turn red as the crimson fluid that was her blood quickly leaked out of her. She went wide eyed, opening her mouth in shock and surprise, as she grabbed the trooper's shoulder for support. Her hand slipped off and she began to fall. The trooper pulled her knife out of the Sentinel, making it go up as she did. Lawson twitched once before going slack.

"Nice job Dawson." Holland said to the sniper.

"I may not be my sister, but I still get the job done," the soldier, Corporal Eleanor Dawson, replied as she lifted the helmet extension and depolarized her visor.

Like her sister, Ellie Dawson had emerald green eyes. Unlike her sister, her hair didn't have a blonde streak. Instead the tips of each strand were blonde, the rest being black. Ellie sighed as they began making their way inside the facility, using the vent they had opened. Ellie climbed in first, turning her active camo back on as she did.

"[Damn, it's uh…it's really dark in here.]"

"You afraid of the dark Corporal?" Loco said with a laugh.

"[Ha, fucking, ha.]"

"Lock it down, both of you," O'Brien ordered as they moved forward.

"Anyone else hear a ghost?"

"[Hey Loco, I suggest you shut the hell up.]"

"Ah, is the little baby-…"

Loco was stopped by an invisible force gripping his throat tightly. He chocked for a bit before it released him. He coughed a few times, trying to catch his breath, as the shimmers moved forward again.  
>"Loco, I think that family doesn't take shit from anyone," Holland said as they moved forward.<p>

"Can't take a joke?"

"Just keep moving," O'Brien ordered once more as they moved up through the vents.

The team got inside to find several pods.  
>"[What the hell are these?]" Ellie said as she moved closer to one.<p>

She decloaked and pressed a button on the pod's control system. The glass of the pod depolarized to reveal another Lawson. Holland looked around to see that three of the remaining pods were already open. He walked over to another door and opened it to see a factory creating multiple Cerberus Infiltration bots. O'Brien followed him and looked inside. Wayne spotted a control panel and walked over to it. He looked up the schematics before copying them to his tacpad. He then went back over to the cloning area, downloading the data from that onto his tacpad as well.

"We have what we came for, let's get going," O'Brien ordered as they started moving again.

They got to the exit to find the N7s running in, Cerberus soldiers chasing them, accompanied by two Atlas mechs. The heavy rounds flew by them as the N7s took cover. The ODSTs followed their example and hid behind whatever was able to stop the rounds from hitting them. Dawson flipped her helmet's binoculars back down and raised her sniper rifle. She fired twice before having to duck to avoid a missile. She just barely avoided being blown up as the others started throwing grenades and shooting their own weapons at the Atlas.

"This isn't going well!" An N7 Demolisher shouted as she aimed her Revenant at the mech.

An N7 Paladin popped out and held up his shield, allowing the others to move up as the Atlas fired at him. The shield held for five seconds before he had to duck into cover. Paxton smiled as he and Dawson snuck around it and place explosives on its legs. Paxton then stood behind it and cupped his hands. Ellie ran over and jumped into his cupped hands. Paxton lifted her up as she place a few more explosives on its back.

"Time to run!" Ellie shouted as they began to sprint towards the exit.

The Atlas turned to follow them just as the last of them got through the door. Ellie did a little bow before sealing the door and running after the others. The Cerberus soldier tried to chase them, only to hear beeping coming from his mech. He got out to look and saw the explosive.

"Oh shi-…"

"And boom goes the dynamite!" Dawson shouted as she pressed the detonator activating the explosives and causing them to explode.

A mushroom cloud of fire appeared behind them as they continued to run towards the Evac Zone.

"That was fucking awesome!" The Demolisher shouted.

"Yeah it was!" Dawson said as she high-fived the Demolisher.

"You are all insane!" An N7 Shadow shouted at them.

"Says the Japanese ninja chick that tends to use a sword." Loco said with a laugh.

"Says the Indian that uses a tomahawk." The Shadow replied.

"You insulting my ancestors?"

"You insulting mine?"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty, can we go back to the ship now?" Dawson and the Demolisher asked.

Both commandos glared at them under their helmets before glaring back at each other. The N7 Commander and O'Brien looked at each other and sighed, both thinking the same thing.

"_Those two idiots."_

Ten minutes later, they were on board a Pelican bringing them to the ship. Loco and the Shadow were still arguing. Dawson was listening to music inside her helmet, nodding her head in time to the beat. The Demolisher was doing the same in her own helmet. O'Brien looked over at the Shadow and Loco. Both had risen from their seats and were yelling at each other.

"O'Brien," the N7 Commander whispered to him. "50 creds say they end up fucking."

"Alright, 50 creds say they kill each other," O'Brien replied as the two officers shook hands.

Another ten minutes, and the Pelican was landing. The team got off, Loco and the Shadow walking off together as O'Brien readied 50 creds to be transferred.

**Me: I know it's shorter than most of my chapters, but it's a prologue. The next chapters will be longer.**

**Trin: Each chapter focuses on a different team and group.**

**Ellie: Well, do I get to see Kim at all?**

**Me: Depends on how I feel, and what Ops are suggested in PMs.**

March 12th, 2566: ODST and N7 teams raid and destroy Cerberus cloning and factory facility. Data is taken by ONI. Mortal Dictata Doctrine keeps UNSC and ONI from creating clones, but Cerberus Infiltration bots are taken and upgraded, making variants for combat, infiltration, flight, and demolition. UNSC variant bots, now called Terran mechs, look like different UNSC Spec Ops divisions.


	2. Supply Lines

**Me: Second chapter of Mass Effect: Spec Ops.**

**Trin: Haloverse.**

**Me: Yes, it's in the Terra Galaxy (Halo Universe).**

**Random Cerberus soldier: For Cer-…+Shot through head with Sniper Scythe+**

**Me: +Hands Ruby back her weapon+ On with the story.**

"Talking."

"_Thinking."_

"[Electronic communication.]"

{AI intercommunication}

**Supply Lines**

[**Terra Galaxy, Resupply Station Alpha 55 (Reaper presence: Nonexistent), Near Galaxy Gate:**]

"Port Stanly to Alpha 55, requesting permission to dock for repairs and rearmament," Osman said over the coms.

She waited a few moments before contacting them again.

"Alpha 55, please report your status."

Still no response, Osman ordered Black Box to ready the Port Stanly's remaining weapons. A few seconds after BB had them online, the station's turrets turned towards them. Osman's eyes widened in surprise as BB's hologram appeared.

"[Well, I wasn't expecting that,]" BB said as he activated the slipspace drive.

[**Five hours later, UNSC Mako class Frigate Hades**]

"Alright people, all we know is that the Resupply station Alpha 55 is under enemy control," Gunnery Sergeant Gabriela 'Gabby' Carter said to her team. "We'll be deploying with Omega team to see what's going on, and eliminate all hostiles. Beck is the highest ranking officer, so he'll be in charge, whether or not I like it."

"You'll still be in charge of your own team Gabby," Anderson said to him.

"Just don't get in our way," the 2nd Generation S-II said in response.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"[Ready weapons SPARTANs, we're coming out of slipspace now,]" the Hades' navigational officer said as the ship dropped back into real space, deploying their Pelican before moving out of the station's range. "[Firing Archer pod A.]"

Gabby went to the cockpit to see the missiles streak towards the facility. Several turrets fired in an attempt to take out the missiles, but were unable to manage it.

"_Looks like they shut down the station's AIs, smart for them,"_ Gabby thought to herself. "Get us moving pilot."

"Maxing engines now," the UNSC Pilot said in response.

Gabby went back to the cargo bay to see the other Ivies, as she called them, checking their weapons. She double checked her BR85 before lighting her energy sword. A recent upgrade she had done to made it to where it was now colored black with red edges. It also had a shield mode with the same colors, but she rarely used that, commonly forgetting she even had that mode for it. She smiled under her helmet as the Pelican began to slow.

"[Landing now. Dropin' the hatch.]"

Omega's Heavy Weapons Specialist, Brian Quinton, and Crimson's Heavy Weapons Specialist, Edward 'Eddie' Victors, moved to the hatch, weapons ready to fire. Brian handed Eddie one of his two HMGs and both prepared to fire. The hatch dropped to reveal several soldiers in older UNSC Marine gear. The armor was now colored a light black with gold trim. Behind them, soldiers in white and yellow armor ran up.

"Innies working with Cerberus…anyone else see that coming?" Jennifer 'Jen' Walkers said as she fired her magnum at the Cerberus soldiers.

The teams' two Heavy Weapons Specialists fired their HMGs into the large group of soldiers. Several Innies managed to take cover, while half of the Cerberus soldiers were killed. The other half fell back behind a small group of Guardians as Gabby ran and jumped out of the Pelican. She landed and rolled, activating her energy sword as she popped back up. The blade stabbed through an Innie that had been standing there. The Innie's eye twitched before he pulled out a grenade and smiled. He grabbed Gabby's armored wrist with one hand and pulled the grenade's pin with the other.

"Oh, shit," Gabby said as he slammed it against her helmet, activating the grenade's primer.

She grabbed the Innie's wrist and squeezed, breaking the soft bones beneath his skin and muscle. He screamed and released her as she threw him and the grenade towards the Guardians. He only got a few feet before the grenade went off.

"Fuck," Gabby said as the explosion threw her back.

Dazed, she laid there for a second before starting to get up. She looked at her shield bar to see that it was drained and flashing red. She also had the copper taste of blood in her mouth. She shook her head once before looking around for her energy sword.

"Looking for this?" Someone she didn't recognize asked from behind her.

Gabby turned her head to see a Cerberus soldier holding her energy sword to her head.

"Bye, bye," he said before activating it.

"Idiot," Gabby said as the blades came from the handle, stabbing the Cerberus soldier that had held it backwards.

Gabby pried the plasma blade from his hands as s shotgun went off behind her. She looked back at her shields to see that the recharge had been temporarily stopped. Not seeing any of her allies near her on her motion tracker, Gabby spun, Energy Sword out. She smiled beneath her helmet as the Innie that had tried to kill her was cut in half at the waist.

"Area clear," Eddie called as a sniper shot rang out. Gabby looked up to see a Cerberus Nemesis fall from a catwalk above them, her head gone.

"[Now we're clear,]" Thomas 'Tom' Vanern, Crimson team's sniper, said over the com.

"Search them for anything we can use," Beck shouted, and Sergeant Carter?"

"Yes Captain," Gabby said through gritted teeth.

With the adrenaline worn off, the pain from the grenade blast hit her like a sledge hammer. Or a near miss with a gravity hammer, she wasn't really sure.

"You alright, that grenade went off pretty close to you."

"I'm fine, just hurts a bit, nothing to worry about sir," she said honestly.

The pain really was starting to disappear. Gabby deactivated her Energy Sword before holstering it and walking over to the fallen enemy units. She searched them to find nothing. No mention of troop count, no mention of possible reinforcements, not even any references to when they got here, or why they were even here. All it said was where they needed to be on the station.

"Well that was no help," Gabby said as she walked over to the others.

"Anyone find something useful?" Beck asked.

"Nothing we didn't already assume or know."

"Well we should…INCOMING!" Beck shouted, causing everyone to jump out of the way.

A rocket hit where they had been at, sending rubble flying in every direction. Gabby rolled behind a large crate and pulled her BR out. She popped out from the crate and fired a single burst into what had fired at them. Her eyes widened at the sight of two Combat class Cyclops and two upgraded Cerberus Atlas mechs. Her eyes narrowed as she rolled out, weapon still firing at the mechs. Eddie fired his Railgun at the first of the Cyclops mechs as another version, this one with a shield, blocked the shot.

"[You are all going to die,]" someone in the shield using mech said.

"Don't you know," Tom said from behind the mechs, "SPARTANs never die."

The Atlas mechs turned as Tom fired his sniper at their less armored glass cockpits. The armored glass protected the pilots inside for a few shots before it exploded, exposing them. Gabby ran forward as the Riot Cyclops moved its second arm to the side of the shield. Gabby could just tell the pilot was smiling as the turret on the arm began firing.

"Fuck!" She shouted as she ducked back behind another crate.

She looked over to see Tom running as the Combat Cyclops mechs fired their shoulder-mounted missile launchers fired several rockets at him. The sniper kept running as the missiles hit behind him. Gabby grabbed one of the mech's attention by firing her rifle at it. The mech turned to her and activated its wrist mounted machine gun turrets. She fired again as missiles and bullets began streaking towards her.

"SHIT!" She shouted before running away from the blast area.

She got back up just for one of the Atlas mechs to punch her into a wall. She hit the wall and the edge of her vision began to turn black while the rest became blurry. Gabby blinked a couple times to clear her vision when something fell into her eyes. When it was clear, she noticed that there was now a crack across her visor, causing several of the HUDs items to be covered in static. The blaring alarm told her that her shields were broken. Suddenly the alarm cut off, but the golden shimmer of the recharging shields didn't appear around her. She also noticed that she couldn't feel her left arm.

"Oh," Gabby coughed, causing the still working bit of her HUD to get covered in blood, "that's not good."

She tore off her helmet as the Atlas mech stomped towards her. She tried to stand up, only to fall to her knees. Gabby lifted her head to see the mech standing right in front of her. She reached for her BR, only to find that it was gone. She looked around and saw it over by where the mech had hit her at. She looked back up and reached for her Energy Sword as the mech lifted its foot. As it brought it back down, Gabby rolled to the right and activated her Energy Sword. The stomp made a crater where Gabby had been. She swung the sword, managing to cut the leg at the joint. The pilot turned it, causing the mech to topple forward. The arms went forward and stopped it from crushing Gabby. Inside the Cerberus pilot was trying desperately to get it up enough to use it weapons.

Gabby stood back up slowly, still barely able to stand, and thrust her sword through the cockpit and into the Cerberus soldier's chest. The pilot looked at the blade before going slack. Gabby pulled the blade back out and stumbled backwards. She looked around to see one of the Cyclops mechs was trying to through Jen, who seemed to be having the time of her life riding the damn thing, off of it. She tried to walk over to her rifle, continuously falling over and stumbling as she did. She lifted the BR85 to her shoulder as two more mechs appeared.

"Shit, we have to pull back, we need reinforcements," Beck shouted as someone started to drag Gabby back.

She turned her head to see Tom and Jen were dragging her away from the mechs. She tried to protest as her vision started to turn black again. She shook her head and the edges stayed black while the rest became blurry. She tried to protest before finally seeing her reflection in a broken shard of glass. She had a large amount of blood coming from her head. She also noticed that a large slash went across the left part of her face, and there were large dents in her armor. A part of it was broken off and blood slowly leaked out of that area. Her usually onyx black and crimson red armor was now caked in grim and dulled from damage. She realized that she couldn't feel her left arm because it was broken badly.

"_Hope that can be healed,"_ she thought to herself.

"This is Omega 1, we need emergency evac. EZ 1 is compromised, heading for EZ 2 now. Insurrectionists and Cerberus are using mechs, Atlas and Cyclops class," the Captain said as they ran into a second hanger, sealing the door behind them. "We also need med-evac. Heavily wounded soldier."

Tom and Jen set Gabby down in a sitting position against a small box.

"[This is Echo 55, I read you loud and clear. ETA, ten seconds,]" a UNSC pilot said over the coms, though Gabby didn't hear it.

"Sir…I…I can still-…" Gabby struggled to say through the pain.

"No you can't soldier, you took a lot more hits than the rest of us combined, you aren't combat ready anymore, and we're getting out of here."

"My…my-…"

"I got your helmet here Gabby," Tom said as he placed it in her lap.

The S-IV smiled with gritted teeth as a Pelican landed near them. Gabby grabbed her helmet as tightly as she could as Tom draped her right arm over his shoulder and walked with her to the Pelican. The others quickly followed as several large dents began to appear in the door. Tom set her in a seat and strapped her in as the others got inside. At the same moment, the doors to the hanger were thrown into the room as the still active mechs stomped in.

"GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" Beck shouted as the pelican quickly took off and the cargo bay door closed.

Gabby heard the thrusters activate on their max setting as the S-IVs evacuated the area. She looked down in defeat, regret, and sorrow as Beck walked over.

"You can't win 'em all Gunny," he told her as he put a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded slowly as the black edges of her vision grew in size, cover her entire vision in darkness.

[**3 Days Later**]

Gabby woke up in a hospital bed. She looked around to see her little brother Mark, now 19 and a private in the UNSC ODSTs, asleep by her left arm. Her eyes widened at the fact that her left arm wasn't in a cast, but had some sort of black and red metal frame like object over it. She heard the door open and she looked over to see her mother. Her red eyes were now also bloodshot and puffy, a sight that confirmed SPARTAN IIs were human also.

"Gabby," the S-II said as she ran over and hugged her daughter.

The S-IV hugged her back with her working arm. They released each other after a minute and looked at each other.

"Remind me to buy your team and that pilot a round of beers, they deserve it for getting you out of there," Maria said.

"Mom…what happened to my arm?"

"The bones were broken by that impact you had from the Atlas mech's hit."

"What's the thing on it?"

"It's an exo-frame system developed by CORTech. It allows the wearer to still enter combat, fully capable, with broken bones that are healing, without the risk of futhor damage or making it take longer for them to heal."

"How long was I-…"

"Three days."

"THREE DAYS!?" Gabby shouted, waking her brother up.

"Morning sis," he said, waking up completely in two seconds.

"Morning to you to pipsqueak," Gabby replied with a smile.

"Just so you know, my squad; your team, being led by mom at the time; and Orion squad managed to take back that station while you were out. The damage Crimson and Omega teams caused was still there."

"Nice to know we weren't forgotten. How did they deal with the mech?"

"We brought two Mantis class mechs. Cyclops are good, but there's a reason they're now used by cops."

"I beat the Cyclops and Atlas pilots were shitting they're pants when the Mantis mechs showed up."

"You bet. The Innie reinforcements gave up as soon as they saw me. I think they remembered how much damage an S-II can do on their own," Maria said.

"At least I know the mission wasn't a complete failure. There had to have been a couple of Innies that didn't give up."

"…"

"Mom?"

"…The team you lead before becoming an S-IV…they were one of the groups of Innies that didn't give up."

"No."

"I'm sorry Gabby."

"…I hope you made them pay for betraying the UNSC."

"I did. So did Johnson."

At that, a UNSC Admiral walked into the room. Gabby instantly jumped to her feet and saluted. Maria and Mark did the same. Gabby then recognized the man as Admiral Jacob Keyes.

"Sir!" they all said as Keyes saluted them back.

"At ease. Gunnery Sergeant Gabriela Carter, ready to get back to work SPARTAN?"

"Yes sir."

"Then get dressed and get moving," Keyes said with a smirk before leaving. "Your team's already waiting for you."

Mark and Maria each gave Gabby one more hug before leaving the room. Gabby then removed her hospital gown, noticing that the exo-frame was actually on her entire body. She sighed before putting on the uniform that was laying on the table next to her bed.

"Time to get back to work," she said to herself as she started leaving.

As she was leaving, she looked at a mirror. She saw that there was now a large scar on her face. She lifted up her sleeve to see that her only tattoo, an ODST helmet over a shield and crossed swords, was somehow undamaged. She smiled before opening the door and leaving the room.

**Me: Well, I meant to leave that station under the control of Cerberus and the Innies for a bit longer, but I couldn't. True writers will know the reason why.**

**Trin: And that would be?**

**Me: Not telling. Still, that shows that the UNSC aren't completely invincible, for those of you thinking they are to OPed. If the enemy has good weapons, armor, or numbers, the UNSC troops can be brought down. Also, how did you guys like Gabby's upgrades to her Energy Sword? Now onto the codex entry. VR Commando ATA out.**

March 19, 2566: UNSC SPARTAN IV teams Crimson and Omega begin raid on Resupply Station Alpha 55. The initial assault results in mission failure, with Crimson team's leader being badly injured. Second attempt by ODST team Breaker, SPARTAN IV team Crimson, being led by S-II Maria Carter, and Spec Ops team Orion. Second attempt results in mission success with zero friendly casualties, and several prisoners being taken. Explosive devices removed from Cerberus prisoners.


	3. Flood, Reapers, and 3-Headed Dogs

**Me: Welcome back to Mass Effect: Spec Ops. Forgot to say last chapter, the idea was left by Deltahalo241.**

**Trin: Well this one won't be Human Spec Ops. Time to see what the Sangheili have been up to. This one was suggested by ScottyD117.**

**Me: Thanks for kind of ruining that Trin, I wanted to make it a surprise. Also, Ronnambi, I hate Lawson, so she is willingly still working for Cerberus. And the clones are an excuse to let me kill her multiple times. So sorry, your idea is cool and all, but I won't be using it.**

**Arbiter: You are somewhat evil, and I see why you've said Trin can be an annoyance.**

**Trin: …TREY!**

**Me: Oh shit. Arbiter,Ihateyousometimes. +Runs out of room being chased by chainsaw wielding Trin+**

**Arbiter: …Was it something I said?**

"Talking."

"_Thinking."_

"[Electronic communication.]"

{AI intercommunication}

**Reapers, Flood, and 3-Headed Dogs**

[**Nova Galaxy, Valkyrie System (Reaper Presence: Low), Cerberus Base:**]

"[Arbiter, we will be launching in ten seconds,]" Spec Ops Commander Rtas 'Vadum said over the coms. "[The Demons are launching on the other side.]"

"Understood Rtas, have everyone ready when we get to the ground," Thel replied.

"[It will be done Arbiter.]"

Thel pulled out his Energy Swords, modeled after the blades used by a previous Arbiter, and activated them. One of the Demon's children had managed to get them and had Huragok change the color of the blades. They now looked metallic silver. He sighed before deactivating them and pulling out his dual Needlers. He checked that they were loaded before holstering them and checking his Plasma Repeater. He looked around his small single soldier drop capsule. It was similar to the UNSC's ODST drop pods, but didn't have the possibility of killing the occupant.

He holstered his Repeater as the capsule launched from the ship. He couldn't see what was outside, but he knew he was close to the ground by now. He suddenly felt the capsule decelerating just before it impacted with the ground. It opened and he jumped out, Energy Swords active in his hands.

He looked around to see the other Sangheili landing. Each pod landed and the Elite Spec Ops soldiers jumped out. Rtas walked up to him and nodded before sniffing the air. Thel looked at his friend confused as the Elite known as Half-Jaw growled.

"The disease is here," he said as he activated his blades.

"Impossible, the human's greatest Demon and I destroyed the last of them on the arc," Thel replied.

"Perhaps not all of them."

"Commander, Arbiter, motion trackers are detecting several enemy units heading towards this area," the only female of Rtas' Spec Ops squad said.

"Which direction?"

The answer to Rtas' question came in the form of several sniper rounds being fired at them. Thel's shields took the hit for him as Rtas and the other Spec Ops Sangheili ran for cover. Several became invisible as their Active Camo activated. Thel pulled out his Needlers and fired towards where the shots had come from. He was rewarded with an explosion of pink as the Needler rounds detonated. After that, several Cerberus Centurions came into view, three of which we suddenly cut in half by the cloaked Spec Ops soldiers. Thel fired his Needlers at the three remaining Centurions as the helmet of a Cerberus Phantom came flying from behind him. As the Centurions exploded, Thel turned to see Rtas dueling against three of the Cerberus Phantoms. Thel sighed as the swordsman laughed. The Phantoms didn't know it yet, but their lives had been shortened to a few more seconds.

One of them attempted to slice at Rtas' legs, only for the blade to be deflected by Rtas before the offending Phantom was decapitated. The other two tried attacking him together only to both be kicked to the side. As they were getting up, Rats jumped and thrust his blades through both. He deactivated the swords and the lifeless corpses fell to the ground.

"The Demons without blades of their own provide bigger challenges," Rtas said as he holstered the hilts of his blades.

"Any casualties?" Thel asked the others.

"None at all Arbiter…wait where is Rala?"

That Sangheili received his answer as the female dropped from a tree, holding a blood splattered Cerberus sniper in one of her hands. She dropped it as the weapons former user finally started falling from her sniper perch. The Nemesis' corpse crashed through the tree before falling onto the ground. Thel looked closely to see that the sniper was missing an arm, and blood slowly dripped from the tree.

"That is one of this galaxy's few weapons that can penetrate our shields Shipmaster. And the sniper was aiming for the Arbiter," the female Spec Ops warrior said.

"It would have been better to use you energy blade," Rtas said.

"Not nearly as fun though."

"And you say the parasite is the most fear instilling thing in the galaxy," Thel whispered to his friend with a laugh.

"Not now Thel."

"Shipmaster, Arbiter, the facility is this way," another Spec Ops said.

"Let's go and see what it is that Rtas smells then," Thel said as the group started moving forward.

After several minutes, they reached a small above ground base. Reports of other Cerberus facilities led Thel to believe the rest of the base was underground. Before Thel or Rtas could say anything, Rala ran towards the door and jumped. Thel thought that she would just be thrown back by the impact, but instead the door fell. Rala got back up, rubbing her shoulder as she did.

"Crude, but effective," Rala said.

"You've have been spending far too much time with the humans," Rtas replied as they walked into the facility.

The group looked around to see several monitors around the area. Thel walked over to one and activated it. He jumped back as the image of a Flood Combat Form appeared. He watched as the Parasite controlled Turian walked around before becoming incased in a biotic stasis. Several Cerberus soldiers then walked in and dragged it out. The image changed to show the soldiers place the Turian Flood form into some sort of pod before sealing the pod and activating it.

"By the gods," Rala said from behind Thel.

He turned his head to see her looking at the screen as well. He turned back to see a day counter appear on the lower half of the screen. Suddenly the image changed, the counter now reading day 15. Thel looked at the pod to see something he didn't recognize. It still looked like a Flood Turian, yet at the same time it looked synthetic, as if the Flood had been given cybernetic enhancements. Thel watched as the pod opened and the unknown thing walked out. Several Cerberus soldiers appeared around it, weapons raised, as a scientist walked up to it.  
>"[What is your mission?]" The scientist asked.<p>

"[You won't be able to control this form forever,]" the thing replied in the Gravemind's voice, bringing back dark memories to Thel. "[And I still have some control. You cannot defeat what is eternal and all knowing.]"

"[Well, we have cured you of that habit of poetry. Now, Ender unit 556, what is your mission?]"

"[If you want me to say what you want, fine. This body's current mission is to defend Cerberus interests. But that still won't last.]"

"[Oh I wouldn't-…]"

The scientist was stopped as the 'Ender' grabbed the scientist's throat.

"[It appears your time of controlling this form is up. Good bye human.]"

With that, the Ender snapped the Cerberus scientist's neck and the soldiers fired at it.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Someone asked near them.

Thel quickly turned, pulling out one of his Needlers as he did, as Rala pulled out her Repeater. They saw what Thel believed was a Cerberus scientist standing there.

"That was around six months ago. We finally realized that if a Gravemind was around, we couldn't control them. It was disappointing to have to destroy such an amazing specimen, but we had to move forward."

"Do you have any idea what that is, what you are creating!?" Rala shouted as the others came up behind her and Thel.

"Yes, we're creating Cerberus' newest weapon. And like I said, that was almost six months ago, we fixed all the problems with the original."

Thel was confused at what the human was saying for a second before realizing what he meant. He turned just in time to see an Ender with an Energy Sword jump at him. He might have been killed if Rtas and Rala hadn't moved him and sliced the Ender into three pieces.

"Have fun with those, I have a meeting with The Illusive Man, and he doesn't like being kept waiting,."

With that, the scientist left, several Enders blocking the Spec Ops from following him.

"Look at the bright side," a young Spec Ops said. Thel heard Rala mutter something under her breath. It sounded like 'don't jinx us.' "At least they don't have biotics."

Suddenly that Sangheili was surrounded by a black aura and throw into the wall. Before he could get up, a sphere of the same colored energy slammed into him, destroying his head. Thel looked over to see another Ender, this one looking like a converted Asari, with black energy around its arm.

"He fucking jinxed us!" Rala shouted as she dodged a warp.

"You really need to stop spending time with humans," Rtas said as he cut the Asari in half. "I don't understand half the things you say."

Thel sighed as he readied his Needlers. He fired at the Asari Enders as the others focused on the Turian Enders. He was about to kill one when a new type of Ender appeared, this one a Krogan. It was quickly followed by a human Ender.

"Well, this op is-…" Rala started to say.

"Rala if you use another human phrase-…" Rtas interrupted.

"Focus you two!" Thel shouted as he fired his Needlers at the new Enders.

"I think they need names," Rala suddenly said as she cut the head off of an Asari Ender.

"Far too much time with humans," Rtas muttered.

"Krogan: Ender Tanks, Asari: Dark Enders, Turian: Ender Infantry, and human: Ender Leaders."

As if to show her reasoning, the human Ender moaned, making the others start working more tactically. Rtas and Thel looked at each other before looking at Rala.

"I hate it when you're right," Rtas said before readying his blades.

Thel holstered his Needlers and pulled out his own blades before activating them. The silver energy shimmered to life before forming the familiar shape of an Energy Sword. The Ender Leader looked at them. It then lifted a hand and seemed to point to Thel. The Tank suddenly charged forward, toppling the other Spec Ops before they could raise their weapons. Thel noticed that they were also missing one of the surviving members. He looked around to see shimmers heading towards him. The shimmers disappeared, replaced by a Spec Ops Sangheili with a detonator in his hands.

"We need to destroy this place, then have the Shadow of Intent bombard this area with its ventral beams," the veteran Sangheili said.

"You brought enough bombs?" Rala asked, sidestepping the Ender Tank and cutting it in half at the waist.

Thel looked to see green blood of the Flood covering Rala's armor, along with a blue substance he didn't recognize. He assumed that that was the Reaper blood and turned his attention back to the Spec Ops.

"How much time?" Thel asked.

"Two minutes, we need to leave now."

"RUN!" Rtas shouted as he sprinted to the exit, firing his Plasma Rifles behind him as he did.

The others followed his example and ran. Thel looked behind him to see Rala, the veteran, and two others were still with them. The others were holding the Enders back so they could escape. One was tackled by two Ender Tanks as the Ender Leader continued to walk towards them. Thel looked forward again to see Rtas waiting at the door for them. Thel looked closely to see that his Plasma Rifles were drained. He pulled out his Needlers and tossed both to him. Rtas caught them and began firing at the Ender forces. Thel ran out to see a single Cerberus drop ship leave the area. He pulled out his Repeater and fired several shots at it, but it was out of range.

"Now what?" Rala asked as Thel heard something heading towards them.

He turned, weapon ready as a UNSC transport appeared. It stopped and several soldiers popped out, two of which were Sangheili. Thel noticed that all of these soldiers were SPARTAN IVs. He shook his head, none of these soldiers were true Demons like John 117. Suddenly another walked out and spoke to him.

"Usually it's you and Chief saving my ass, guess you and I are even huh?" A voice Thel recognized asked.

"It is good to see you as well Sergeant Major Johnson, but we need to get moving. This place is infested with the disease."

"Flood? I thought we took care of that?" Johnson asked as he ordered his team back into the transport. "So are we glassing this place then?"

"No choice."

"Damn, still hate that shit."

With that, the remaining Sangheili boarded the transport as the Enders began exiting the building. The vehicles driver got them moving as a Dark Ender tried to teleport in front of them. Thel felt a dull thump as the transport ran over the monstrosity. He nodded to Johnson as they continued to get further away from the base and Enders. 31 minutes of driving later and they were packing into drop ships. Thel looked out the open door of the rising Phantom to see two Pelicans speeding off towards the UNSC's Eternal Salvation. Thel turned his head and watched as three Sangheili ships fired their ventral beams into the base and the areas around it.

"Uncle Rtas, are you alright?" THel heard Rala ask.

"No, I believed that this nightmare had been ended, only to find out that Cerberus has not only brought it back, but also made it worse," Half-Jaw replied.

"I understand how you feel Rtas," Thel said as he walked away from the closing doors. "Bring us back to the Shadow of Intent. I want us to make sure they didn't miss anything."

"Understood Arbiter," the pilot replied as they flew towards the Assault Carrier.

**Me: Well, that was fun.**

**Trin: You brought the Flood back…again?**

**Me: Yep, only this time their controlled by Cerberus, and eventually the Reapers, but the Reaper Enders will look different and only have one form.**

**Arbiter: I am glad to see you two resolved your…argument.**

**Me: I'm still pissed at you. Also, who else is excited that he's coming back in Halo 5?**

March 27, 2566: Sangheili Spec Ops team led by Arbiter Thel Vadumee' assaults Cerberus base. Discovery of Cerberus controlled, and Reaper upgraded, Flood causes concern within the ranks. UNSC has rechecked that their 'True Reclaimer' status is labeled on the Precursor 'temple.' Confirmed that any 'True Flood' will see them as inheritors and not attack them. Full effects of this Precursor chosen label are still unknown.


End file.
